Chapter 11 #2
“Congratulations, sweetie.” He kissed the top of his sister-in-law’s head. “You’re going to be an amazing mom.”
“That’s what Alex said.” Avery pulled back with a glowing smile. “I really hope you’re both right.”
“Of course, we are.”
The three of them turned to find Alex had joined them. His nostrils became filled with the scent of vanilla and sweet berries. Just like that, he was back in that fancy suite.
Him on the couch. Alex on him. Her hips grinding slowly against his.
“Are you kiddin’?” Garrett wrapped an arm around his wife’s shoulders, bringing her flush to his side. “You’ve got this, baby.” He kissed Avery’s temple before turning his attention back on Coulter and Alex. “And hey, since you’re both here—”
“There’s something we wanted to ask,” Avery finished for him.
“Okay . . .” Coulter shared a look with Alex, who looked as lost as he felt.
Glancing in his wife’s direction, Garrett gave the sweet woman a quick nod. “Go ahead. Ask them.”
“Ask us what?” Alex didn’t hide her impatience.
With her pretty stare bouncing between them, Avery dropped the next surprising bomb. “We want you to be the baby’s godparents.”
Coulter’s heart swelled as a rush of emotions struck. “Us?” His gaze swung to Alex and back to Garrett. “Really?”
“Really.” His brother nodded with a prideful grin.
“Well, damn.” He ran a hand over his jaw. “I gotta say, I did not see this coming.”
Avery chuckled with a teasing, “That’s why it’s called a surprise.”
“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Alex frowned. “I mean, I’m totally down for it, but Colt—”
“What?” He cut her off with a defensive tone. “You don’t think I’m capable of raising a kid?”
“I don’t know. Are you?”
“I’m every bit as capable as you are.”
“You’re barely ever home.”
“So this is about my job?”
“Of course, it is. Kids take time, and they need a consistent routine. How can you agree to take on a responsibility of that magnitude when you can barely take care of yourself.”
“I do just fine, thank you very much.”
Alex scoffed with a disbelieving mutter. “Okay.”
He shifted his stance to face her fully. “If the worst happened, I’d be here.”
“Would you?”
“Yes.”
The challenging woman jutted her chin. “What about your job?”
“Family comes first,” he assured her. “Always.”
She huffed a breath and looked away, crossing her arms at her chest. “If you say so.”
“I say so.”
A tense moment of silence stretched between them before Avery interjected once more.
“Uh, guys?” Alex’s sister inched forward. “You do realize you’ll probably never have to actually worry about this, right?”
“Yeah, it’s like a failsafe,” Garrett added to his wife’s point. “You know . . . just in case.”
Coulter kept his focus on Alex who finally brought her gaze back to his. “Fine,” she relented. “You’re right. I’m sorry.” To Avery, she smiled wide. “Of course, I’ll be your baby’s godmother.”
The two sisters shared an emotional hug.
Meanwhile, he gave Garrett’s hand a firm shake. “You know I’ve always got your back, brother. And that includes your wife and any little rugrats the two of you make.”
“Thanks, brother. I appreciate you.”
“Me, too.” Avery hugged him again.
“Hey, Aves?” Evie called out to their hostess from several feet away. “Are there any more buns in the house? These guys have already gone through the ones you set out.”
“Duty calls.” She turned and hollered back, “There’s another package in the kitchen. I’ll get it.”
“I’ll go,” Alex offered in a rush, not waiting for permission before heading toward the house.
“Thanks, Al.” Avery smiled.
A beat later, Coulter told his brother and sister-in-law, “I’ll go see if she needs any help.”
He didn’t wait for approval before taking off in that direction. With everyone else outside, this might be his only chance to talk to the stubborn woman alone.
Alex pulled the sliding door shut behind her seconds before he opened it again. A blast of cool air struck as he stepped inside.
“We need to talk.” He closed the door again to keep others from hearing.
She went to the far counter where a brand-new package of buns awaited. “Actually, we don’t.”
“Yes, we do.”
“About what?” Alex turned and faced him.
His gaze burned into hers as he took a few steps toward her. “How have you been?”
Her sudden bark of laughter took Coulter by surprise. “I’m great. Peachy. In fact, I couldn’t be better. Are we done now?”
“No.” He shook his head slowly. “Not even close.”
Alex dropped the package of buns back onto the granite countertop with a frustrated, “What do you want me to say?”
“I want you to tell me the truth.” His feet carried him closer. “I want to know how you’re really doing. No bullshit.”
“No bullshit? I don’t know how I’m doing.”
At least she’s finally being honest.
“Anything you want to talk about?”
“With you?” she huffed. “No. I’m good.”
“Come on, Al. Don’t do that.”
“Do what?”
“Treat me like I’m the enemy.”
“I don’t—” Alex clamped her mouth shut.
“You don’t what?”
“Nothing.”
“Alex . . .” Coulter prodded her softly.
She looked away before bringing her gaze back up to his. “I don’t think of you as the enemy.”
“Well, that’s good to know.”
Her luscious lips started to curve at the corners, but almost as quickly, the guarded woman frowned. “Seeing you again after . . . what happened . . .” She paused before clearing her throat. “I guess it’s a little harder than I thought it would be.” A tiny shrug. “That’s all.”
That wasn’t all. It was everything.
“That’s good to know, too.”
Alex frowned. “Uh . . . it is?”
Coulter nodded, slowly inching his way forward as he covered the space between them. And for a moment, he forgot where they were.
“It’s great, actually.” He reached out, gently tucking some hair behind her ear. “For a second, there, I thought I was the only one.”
“The only one who what?”
“Hasn’t stopped thinking of that night in L.A.”
Despite the immediate shaking of her head, Alex’s pupils grew dark with desire. “I don’t think about it or you.”
“Yes, you do.”
“No, I don’t.”
She said one thing, but the way she’d focused on his lips said something else altogether.
“You’re a terrible liar.” He leaned closer.
One of her dark brows arched high. “If I’m such a bad liar, then why does Gordan Crawford keep sending me flowers?”
“He what?” Coulter’s hand dropped as he took a step back. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I haven’t seen or spoken to you in two weeks.”
“You could have called.”
“To tell you another man sent me flowers?”
“Crawford’s not just another man, Alexandria. He’s—”
“I know exactly who and what he is, which is why I’ve been ignoring his calls.”
His chest grew tight. “The bastard’s been calling, too?”
“He was.” Alex crossed her arms at her chest. “He hasn’t called for a few days, so I figured he finally got the hint.”
“Guys like Crawford don’t take a hint,” Coulter growled.
They took what they wanted, and from what he’d just heard, the son of a bitch wanted Alex.
I’ll never let that happen.
“It’s okay, Colt,” Alex assured him. “I’ve got it handled. Besides, weren’t you supposed to have already locked him up by now?”
“I’m working on it, trust me.”
Another couple of days was all he needed. After that, the prick would no longer be a problem. But until then—
“He contacts you again, I need to know about it immediately.”
“Is that an official order, or are you asking as my friend?”
The question took him aback as his legs carried him forward. “Is that what we are now?” Another slow step. “Friends?”
Before she could respond, the glass door slid open, and Avery stepped inside. “Did you get lost? The guys are about to gnaw off their own hands waiting for the buns.”
He and Alex moved away from each other at the very same time.
“I found them.” She grabbed the bag of hamburger buns and smiled. “Sorry. Colt and I were just—”
“Talking,” he finished for her.
Avery’s suspicious gaze slid from him, to her sister, and back to him. “You two, good?”
“We’re fine.” Alex walked past him without so much as a sideways glance. “Like he said, we were just talking. I should get these to the table before the team turns into a bunch of cannibals.”
“Thanks, sis.”
“Yep.”
Coulter watched Alex hurriedly make her way through the door and across the paved patio.
“Colt?”
“Yeah.” He turned his attention to Avery.
“You good?”
“Who, me? I’m great.”
“You sure?” She didn’t seem all that convinced.
“You worry too much, Aves.” Coulter walked over to where she was standing. “All that stress isn’t good for the baby. Come on.” He put an arm around his sister-in-law’s shoulders. “Let’s go see if they saved us any dessert.”
As he and Avery went back outside, he scanned the small crowd for Alex. He spotted her near the fire pit, standing and talking to Evie and Nicki, who were sitting in two of the chairs encircling the crackling flames.
“You’re sure everything’s okay?” Avery asked him again. “Because it seemed things were pretty intense between you and my sister.”
“We’re fine,” he lied. “You know how Alex can be.”
She chuckled. “I know how you can be, too. Why do you do it?”
“Do what?”
“Go at her every chance you get. And before you try to deny it, you and I both know it’s true.”
Yeah, he did. Only he couldn’t tell Avery the real reason why.
“She makes it too easy, Aves.” He shrugged. “I mean, what’s a guy to do?”
They both laughed, but as they walked toward the table to join the others, Coulter stole another hidden glance Alex’s way. His lungs froze when he found her staring straight back at him.
Their gazed locked, and for the next several seconds, neither of them looked away. But then Evie said something that caught Alex’s attention.
At least she looked.
He held onto that thought with plans to continue their interrupted conversation later. Because he wasn’t done with it . . . or her.